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Parks, Plazas & Central Squares
NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS AND OPEN SPACES
WADE
OVAL
Cleveland, Ohio (2001-Present)
 PPS
recently began helping citizens in Cleveland,
Ohio revitalize an urban park whose size belies
its potential influence. Wade Oval is just 5
acres, but it's uniquely situated amid five
cultural institutions, including the Cleveland
Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Botanical
Garden, and Cleveland Art Museum. We plan to
connect the institutions to one another and
to the park, partly through small changes to
building facades and outdoor areas that reveal
more information about what's going on inside
these buildings (most of which are undergoing
expansion). We also envision making the Oval
itself - and the boulevard around it - more
welcoming to both visitors and the local community,
enlivened by events and activities programmed
by the rich array of partners around it. In
helping these partners benefit from their location
on the Oval, we believe this place will deliver
on its potential to become one of the most important
destinations in the U.S. Client: University
Circle, Inc.
PHILADELPHIA
GREEN EVALUATION
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1997)
PPS conducted an evaluation for the William
Penn Foundation to identify successful activities
of Philadelphia Green, a community greening
program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
The evaluation of four low-income, central Philadelphia
neighborhoods, entailed both overall program
evaluation and an examination of what strategies
go farthest to enhance and sustain the public's
perceptions and use of specific sites, including
community gardens, neighborhood parks, housing
projects and tree-planted streets. Client:
William Penn Foundation.
CASA
BLANCA NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENTS
Riverside, California (1994)
PPS worked with the Riverside Development Department,
Riverside City and County Public Library and
the residents of Casa Blanca, a primarily Hispanic
neighborhood, to develop plans for improving
their street and for a new public square and
cultural center/library. Through a series of
meetings with the neighborhood leadership, local
college and university officials, city development
and law enforcement personnel and by hosting
well-attended public workshops, plans for the
reclaiming of Casa Blanca's Madison Street as
the neighborhood "Main Street" and for the creation
of a cultural center/ library with a central
square, have been shaped. Streetscape improvements
include neckdowns, planted medians, welcome
signs, and angled parking near the shops, churches
and library. School classes are preparing their
own designs for the library/ cultural center,
which is being financed with already dedicated
bond monies. The central square is to be constructed
adjacent to the library for community activities
such as a market, children's play area, performances
and other activities, with adjacent incubator
commercial/retail space. Client: City of Riverside,
Development Department.
WHITE PARK
Riverside, California (1994)
The development of a plan for White Park was
part of a plan to revitalize a 10-block area
in downtown Riverside. Historically, the park
was surrounded by residences, yet was only one
block from the central business district, however,
by 1994 most of the residences had been torn
down and replaced with parking lots or buildings
with blank walls. As a result, the park became
severely abused, and homeless people started
living there. Working with the City and surrounding
community, PPS developed a plan both to renovate
the park and to restore the area around the
park with small-scale residential units as were
there previously. Client: City of Riverside.
ALBERT PARK
San Rafael, California (1991-1992)
 PPS
conducted a series of community workshops and
meetings to address the improvement of Albert
Park, and assisted the parks director with collecting
data about park use and perception. Based on
this input, PPS developed a plan that included
a formal garden in conjunction with San Rafael's
sister city in Italy, bocce courts, and a front
porch on the senior center. The community took
on major responsibility for implementation,
with community members taking photographs, visiting
and observing examples of parks in other cities,
raising money, and working with the city to
oversee construction. The bocce courts have
become a major source of civic pride and activity.
With the new senior center orientation, the
seniors, who rarely ventured into the park before,
now are frequent users and have formed a bocce
league of their own. Client: Recreation
Director, City of San Rafael Parks Department.
OCCIDENTAL
PARK
Seattle, Washington (1991)
PPS, working with
the landscape architecture firm EDAW and the
local community, developed an improvement program
and implementation strategy for Occidental Park,
which is centrally located within Seattle's
historic Pioneer Square area. The planning process
began with a survey designed to measure people's
current use and perceptions of Occidental Park,
followed by observations of and interviews with
current park users and public and private sector
individuals who had responsibility for the Park.
Several community meetings were held to develop
consensus on park problems and ideas for changes
that should be made. A Working Committee was
established to guide the implementation of the
plan, which was essentially developed by the
community through a process developed by PPS.
Client: City of Seattle, Department of Parks.
SUTTON
AREA IMPROVEMENT PLAN
New York, New York (1990)
PPS assisted the Sutton Area Community (SAC)
neighborhood organization in identifying issues
and establishing priorities for improvement
projects. Members of the community were organized
into committees to deal with issues such as
security, parks, plazas, street amenities, and
traffic and transportation. Under PPS's supervision,
the community collected most of the on-site
data. Residents filmed neighborhood traffic
congestion, using time-lapse photography, timed
pedestrians at intersections, interviewed people,
and recorded activities throughout the day at
bus stops and in parks and plazas. Merchants,
doorman and others were also interviewed. PPS
developed a questionnaire on local park issues
that was distributed by the community to 10,000
households. Client: Sutton Area Community,
Inc.
PHIPPS
HOUSES OPEN SPACES
Bronx, New York (1989)
PPS was hired by Phipps Houses to develop conceptual
designs for all public spaces adjacent to 19
buildings in the South Bronx that were being
rehabilitated for low-income tenants. The spaces
included building entrances and courtyards,
alleys behind buildings, park-type spaces adjacent
to the buildings, and a space behind a day care
center. The objective was to develop spaces
to be used and enjoyed by residents that would
instill a feeling of pride and ownership in
the buildings, and contribute to the security
of both the buildings and the neighborhood.
Client: Phipps Houses.
MEARS PARK
St. Paul, Minnesota (1988)
Mears Park is a unique and important open space
within a nationally recognized historic district
developed in Lowertown, St. Paul. The City of
St. Paul, the St. Paul Downtown Council and
the Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation hired
PPS to evaluate the use and potential of the
park in order to identify strategies for improvement
and enhancement. PPS analyzed the physical conditions
and user characteristics of Mears Park and developed
opportunities for physical and programmatic
improvements. The City Parks Department and
St. Paul architects have implemented these improvements.
Client: City of St. Paul.
BUSCH PARK
Woodside, Queens (1986)
Working with "Woodside on the Move" and the
City of New York Parks Department, PPS analyzed
the use of Busch Park and then developed a plan
for its renovation. The Park, which is located
near the central business district in Woodside,
Queens, had deteriorated and no longer adequately
served the needs of neighborhood residents.
PPS also worked with a New York sculptor to
develop a design for a small fountain as a focal
point for the Park.
MANHATTAN WEST
New York, New York (1986)
PPS participated in the preparation of an environmental
impact statement for a mixed-use development
on the West Side of Manhattan. PPS's work primarily
involved the identification and evaluation of
all existing open spaces around the proposed
site; analysis of impact of the proposed development
on these spaces; and the preparation of preliminary
concepts for the design of a new public space
that could be built as part of the proposed
project. Client: Daniel Brodsky.
DOWNTOWN
PUBLIC OPEN SPACES PROJECT
Denver, Colorado (1984)
PPS conducted an evaluation of all of the public
spaces (both privately and publicly owned) in
downtown Denver for the Denver Partnership.
The results of the project were specific design
and management recommendations for public space
improvements, a handbook for public space owners
on the process of making public space improvements,
and guidelines for public space development.
Client: The Denver Partnership.
PUBLIC
SPACES IN SUBSIDIZED HOUSING PROJECTS
New York, New York (l981-82)
In order to determine how the public spaces
in public housing projects in New York City
could be better designed, PPS evaluated the
way the public spaces in and around subsidized
housing projects were actually being used by
their residents. Interviews were conducted with
building managers, tenants, and project architects
and on-site observations were made of the use
or lack of use of spaces such as lobbies, community
rooms, laundries and playgrounds. Funding:
New York Community Trust and the New York State
Council on the Arts.
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